Projectile popping and reloading toy



Feb. 22, 1966 P. H. KNoTT PROJEGTILE POPPING AND RELODING TOY 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed sept. 27, 1965 Feb. 22, 1966 p, H, KNOTT 3,236,521

PROJECTILE POPIING AND RELOADING TOY Filed Sept. 27, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 22, 1966 P. H. KNoTT FROJECTILE POPPING AND RELOADING TOY 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept.

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F/Ol/ Feb 22, 1966 P. H. KNoTT 3,236,521

PROJECTILE POPPING AND RELOADING TOY Filed Sept. 2'?, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent Office 3,236,521 Patented Feb. 22, 1966 3,236,521 PROIECTILE POPPING AND RELOADING TOY Philip H. Knott, New York, N.Y. (202 South St., Apt. A2, Sausalito, Calif.) Filed Sept. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 312,118 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-96) The present invention relates to toys of the type designed to carry in a m-agazine a series of projectiles to be successively fed to a loaded position and each there held temporarily until fluid pressure is applied thereto by manipulation of the toy.

A general object of the present invention is to provide embodiments of such a device which permit effective reloading serial feed of the magazine-housed projectiles by simple manual manipulation with each projectile being temporarily caught and held in uid-sealing relation by an elastic annnlus at a loaded position of delivery or discharge, these devices also permitting simple release or delivery of a puff of elevated fluid pressure into the magazine .to pop out each annnlus held projectile.

Another object is to provide embodiments of the device in the form of combined ball pitching and batting toys in which the storage magazine is provided in a hollow bat structure with the ball-holding annnlus being mounted in the vicinity of a delivery or discharge mouth in the end of the ball-striking section of the bat.

A further object of the invention is to provide structural forms of such combined ball pitching and batting devices that permit reloading action to be produced by swing of the bat, such as may occur as the user attempts to hit a preceding ball delivered or popped from the bat.

A projectile popping and swing reloadable toy of the present invention may include an elongated tube which provides an internal, elongated, tubular chamber serving as a combined delivery barrel and magazine housing therein a stack of a plurality of like projectiles, such as balls which may be Ping-pong type, in substantial longitudinal alignment. This chamber is of greater cross-sectional dimensions at substantially all points than the transverse dimensions of the housed projectiles, such as the diameter of the balls, for free longitudinal slide of the latter in this chamber, and also t allow uid freely to pass between the projectiles or balls and the chamber sidewalls. This chambered tube has an open delivery mouth at one end. An expansible elastic fluid-sealing annnlus is mounted to the tube in the vicinity of the open mouth thereof, and this annulus has internal transverse dimensions appreciably less than the transverse dimensions of the projectiles or balls, to catch and hold each temporarily therein in fluid-sealing relation when it is driven longitudinally by a limited reloading force from the chamber into the annulus. Each of the annnlus-held projectiles or balls is -then capable of being popped out of its held position in the annnlus by a greater force of applied uid pressure delivered to the chamber. This device lalso includes manually engageable means mounted to the opposite back end of the tube for grasp by a persons hand to permit vigorous manual swing of the open mouth end thereof for creating the reloading force for each outer projectile or ball in the stack. As a result, this reloading force will be in the form of centrifugal force applied t0 the stack of projectiles or balls in the chamber. Means are also provided to deliver fluid under elevated pressure to the chamber to pop each annulusheld projectile out of the tube mouth.

This toy, when in the form of a combined ball pitching and batting device, m-ay be provided as an elongated bat simulating a conventional baseball bat having an outer hollow ball-striking barrel section deiining the tubular magazine chamber therein and with the latter provided 0 annnlus.

at the end of the bat with the open mouth through which the balls are to be successively discharged. The bat has a smaller hand-gripping handle section at its other end provided with a longitudinal passage leading to and connecting with the inner back end of the chamber for supply thereto of puffs of elevated pressure fluid.

Such bat embodiment of the invention has means to apply reloading force to the stack of balls in the chamber to drive each outer ball into the temporary holding The reloading force applying means may include the structural features of the bat which permit it to be swung to apply centrifugal force to the stack of balls in the magazine chamber that will cause the outer ball of the stack to travel longitudinally out of the chamber into the gripping annnlus. This reloading force applying means may also include supplemental structure, such as biasing spring means backing up the stack of balls in the chamber, so that both biasing force and centrifugal force are simultaneously applied to effect the transfer of the outer ball into the annnlus. This means further may be in the form of a magazine spring which effects the transfer of each outer ball from out of the chamber into the gripping annnlus if the spring is so designed in relation to the mass of each ball and the number of balls in the stack, as well as the structure of the annulus and the gripping force -it may apply to any particular such ball, as to effect this required transfer action for each ball.

The toy bats of the present invention which are to serve as combined ball pitching and batting devices will carry manual means connected to an elevated pressure air supply passage extending through the handle section of the bat and communicated to the chamber to create and deliver at will puffs of air into the latter that effectively pop each annnlus-held ball out of the gripping annulus and the discharge mouth in the end of the bat.

It is thus a further object of `the invention to provide such structural embodiments of the device which may be readily constructed and which will permit eilicient use and operation thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention .accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will 'be exemplied in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is an elevational View of a ball pitching and batting embodiment of the present invention, with a major portion of the bat shown in axial section and with parts of a putting bellows mounted thereon broken away and in section;

FIG. 2 is la perspective view lof the bat of FIG. l shown to smaller scale, and illustra-ting the grasp of the handle thereof in a normal posi-tion lfor manual operation with the bat being held in an upright position;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view somewhat similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the top of a ball from the top end of the bat as effected by a manual compression of the puffing bellows by the hands of the operator as he grasps the bat handle;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bat shown in FIG. 3, illustrating side swing thereof to hit the ball pitched by the action illustrated in FIG. 3, which swing also effects the reloading of the next successive ball to the loaded position at the outer end of the bat;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the bat toy of the present invention;

` section.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing further variation of the bat toy, illustrating employment of a piston in lieu of the bellows to eifect the ball-expelling puffing action;

FIG. 7 is an elevational View, with parts broken away and in section, showing a modified form of the bellows puffing device;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged axial section of the outer ballstriking portion of such a toy bat, with parts broken away, illustrating a modiiied form of the ball-gripping annulus means;

FIG. 9 is an axial section similar to FIG. 8 and illustrating a further modied form of the ball-gripping annulus means;

FIG. 1() is an axial section similar to FIGS. 8 and 9 depicting a still further modified form of the ball-gripping annulus means;

FIG. 11 is an axial section of the outer end of the bat including the magazine chamber thereof, with parts broken away, illustrating mount within the chamber of means to facilitate reload action of the outermost ball in the stack housed in the chamber;

FIG. 12 is a detailed plan view of a traveler element illustrated in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an end elevational view of still another vmodication of the ball-gripping annulus means to be tion includes a tubular barrel or shell 2 having a ballstriking section 3 at its outer end, a handle section 4 at its inner end and an intervening shank section 5. The

. el-ongated tubular bat barrel or shell 2 may be formed in f any suitable manner, such as by being molded from suitable rigid plastic of various well-known and conventional types. The ball-striking section 3 of the bat shell 2 is provided with an open mouth 6 at its outer free end, and

this mouth may be reinforced by an inturned end flange 7.

The shank'section 5 and a portion of the handle section 4 may be reinforced by a tubular insert 8. The bore of insert sleeve 8 defines a constricted air supply passage 9 leading from an inlet hole 10 in the bat handle to a magazine or storage chamber 11 intervening the outer end of the insert sleeve and the delivery or discharge mouth 6.

The magazine chamber 11 is designed to carry or house therein a longitudinally-aligned stack of like balls 12 of certain diameter, and these balls may be conventional hollow Ping-pong balls of relatively light weight. The elongated tubular magazine chamber 11 is of appreciably greater diameter than the like balls 12 to permit at substantially all points free longitudinal sliding action o f the balls in this chamber. These relative dimensions also permit free passage of air from the back of the chamber,

y as supplied thereto by the passage 9, out through the chamber past the balls to the delivery or discharge mouth 6, with the latter also being of an internal diameter appreciably greater than the diameter of the balls for free passage of the latter therethrough.

An expansible, elastic, air-sealing annulus 13 is carried by or mounted to the barrel section 3 in the vicinity of the delivery or discharge mouth 6, and it may include a circular skirt 14 telescoped over and anchored, such as by cementing, about the outer free end of this barrel The annulus 13 also includes a flexible inner transverse annular liange or lip 1S, having a central hole J 16 of a diameter appreciably less than the diameter of made of relatively thin-walled elastomer stock, such as rubber.

Air putting means 17, mounted upon the handle section 4, may be in the form of an automatically expansible bellows which is collapsible by hand pressure to expel air therefrom. For this purpose the bellows 1'7 has an accordion-pleated annular sidewall 18 connected in uidtype joints to opposed end walls 19 and 20. The bellows end wall 19 is arranged about the handle section 4 in an air-tight connection and for this purpose may have a hole therein through which the handleextends with the later fixed in this hole by suitable cement. The other end wall or head plate 20 of the bellows 17 is provided with a central hole 21 through which the handle section 4 is slidably mounted. The sidewall 18 of the bellows 17 is arranged about the side hole 10 in the handle, and this hole communicates the interior chamber 118 of the bellows with the air supply passage 9. The pleated side- Wall 18 of the bellows 17 is of the well-known expansible type which will permit ready compression by application of compressive force to the end walls 19 and 20, and when this compressive force is released the sidewall will automatically expand to increase the capacity of the bellows chamber 118, the condition illustrated in FIG. 1.

The bellows 17 may be provided in a variety of ways with a suitable air inlet. In the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 4 incl., the section 22 of the bat handle about which the bellows end wall or head plate 20 is slidably mounted should be of uniform diameter so that the gap between the edge of the hole 21 and the outer surface of this tubular section will be substantially uniform in all longitudinal positions of this slidable end wall. The area of the annular gap between the edge of the hole 21 in the bellows end wall or head plate 20 and the outer surface of the handle section 22 is appreciably less than the area of the communicating supply hole 10, so that this annular gap may serve as the air inlet to the bellows chamber. When the bellows 17 is collapsed by application of pressure to the top or outer side of the end wall or head plate 20, such as in the direction of the arrow 23 of FIG. 1, the major portion of the air within the bellows chamber will be forced through the communicating hole 10 and into and out of the communicating passage on opposite sides of the bellows 17 holds the bat 1 at sage 9 into the magazine chamber 11, to create a puff of air therein for popping the annulus-held ball out of the annulus 13.

The operation of the combined ball pitching and batting toy 1, illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 incl., will be as follows. The operator, who may be a child, will load the magazine chamber 11 with a plurality of the balls Y 12, byvpushing each one down through the mouth 6 past the annulus 13. This preliminary loading operation is easily accomplished since the transverse inwardly-extending, annular lip 15 of the annulus 13 is highly exible and will turn inwardly to be spread or expanded as each ball is pushed in, thereby permitting the ball to pass the annulus into the magazine chamber 11 with infolding of the flexible lip. The operator may then grasp the grip section 25 with his right hand and the grip section 24 with his left hand, on opposite sides of the bellows 17, as is illustrated at 26 and 27 in FIG. 2. The operator thereafter swings the bat 1 so as to apply centrifugal force to the series or stack of balls 12 loaded into the magazine chamber 11. As a result, the outermost ball 112 within the magazine chamber 11 is forced by the centrifugal force (acting as a reloading force) up into the annulus 13, such as to the position indicated in dotdash lines at 112-1 in FIG. l and in full lines at 112 in FIG. 2. The outermost ball 112, as it travels longitudinally in the magazine chamber 11, turns the flexible lip outwardly so that an annular zone of appreciable width of the inside surface of this lip snugly engages an annular zone of the surface of the ball, as is indicated in dotted lines in FIG. l. The annulus 13 will thus securely grip the ball 112 and temporarily hold it in this loaded position at the mouth 6 of the bat device 1. This secure gripping of the ball 112 by the annulus 13 does not require that the zone of engagement therebetween be at the transverse equatorial plane of the ball. Secure gripping will be attained if only a minor segment of the ball extends out beyond the edge of out-turned lip 15, as is illustrated in FIG. 2, or even if a major segment of the ball extends therebeyond, as is indicated at 112-1 by dot-dash lines in FIG. 1.

With the combined ball pitching and batting toy 1 loaded in this fashion and held upright, as is indicated in FIG. 2, the operator may then pitch or pop the annulus-held ball 112 upwardly, so that he may strike at it as it descends. This pitching action is illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein it is indicated that the operator moves his right hand 26 downwardly about the bat handle, in the direction of the arrow 28, so as to slide the bellows head plate down about the bat handle in the direction of the arrow 23 to collapse the bellows 17. This collapsing of the bellows 17 forces the air out of its chamber 118 through the communicating hole 10, thence out the supply passage 9 and into the magazine chamber 11, to apply elevated air pressure to the annulus-held ball and pop it from the position indicated in dot-dash lines at 112-1 in FIG. 3 upwardly to the full line position of the ball 112 shown therein. It will thus be seen that the delivery of each ball in the pitching action is accomplished by a puff of air delivered to the magazine chamber 11 by the rapid collapse of the bellows 17 effected by retraction of the operators right hand about the bat handle. In order to assure that the bottom or innermost ball, indicated at 512 in FIG. 1, will not undesirably block the end of the air supply passage 9 the far end of the filler tube 8 may be provided with a plurality of by-pass notches 29. This assures that the puff of air delivered to the supply passage 9 will apply elevated liuid pressure only to the annulus-held ball 112 in the top loaded position to pop it out, without any appreciable loss of energy which might have been attendant otherwise upon the necessity of lifting the innermost ball 512, and those stacked therebeyond, from out of blocking relation to the mouth of this supply passage.

As the popped ball 112 descends, the operator may then swing sideways at it, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4, to attempt to hit the ball with the striking section 3 of the bat. As the operator swings the bat, while attempting to hit this previously pitched or popped ball 112, he creates centrifugal force which is applied to the stack of balls within the magazine chamber 11 to apply a reloading force to the next outermost ball 212 therein, causing it to travel longitudinally out of the chamber into the gripping annulus 13 for a repetition of the cycle of operation. The operator then loosens the grip of his right hand 26 and slides it up the bat handle section to permit the pleated sidewall 18 of the bellows to expand or extend and raise the head plate 20 thereof to the initial position illustrated in FIG. 1. As the bellows 17 expands, it draws air into its internal chamber 118 through the annular inlet gap defined between the edge of the central hole 21 in the plate 20 and the outer surface of the bat handle, thereby aspirating into the bellows another quantity of air to be puffed up into the magazine chamber 11. The device is thus readied for repetition of the pitching and batting action.

A modified form of the ball iptching and batting device illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 incl., is shown in FIG. 5. As is therein illustrated, the air-aspirating inlet of bellows 17 may be provided by a passage 30 formed in the bellows slidable head plate 120. The mouth 31 of this inlet passage 30 is covered by a flap valve 32 of conventional construction, which will tiex away from this inlet mouth to open it upon the development of suction within the bellows but will lap snugly against the inner face of the head plate to close the inlet mouth when the internal pressure is increased by manual collapse of the bellows 17.

FIG. 5 also illustrates that spring biasing means may be mounted within the bat shell 2 to apply biasing force to the stack of balls 12 within the magazine chamber 11 for feeding the outermost ball 112 into the annulus-held loaded position indicated in dot-dash lines at 112-1. This biasing spring mechanism may apply reloading force to the stack of balls 12 within the magazine chamber 11 in supplement to the centrifugal force created by swing of the bat 101, in the manner previously described. For this purpose an abutment ring 33 may be xedly mounted within the shank section 5 of the shell tube 2, against which the inner or lower end 34 of a helical compression spring 35 seats. Slidable plate 36 rests upon the top end 37 of the compression spring 35, and a fixed abutment ring 38 within the shell tube 2 limits the inward or lowering motion of the slidable plate 36. The tendency for the compression spring 35 to expand causes the slidable plate 36 to apply lift or outward force to the innermost ball 512 resting thereon `and the stack of balls therebeyond.

In the FIG. 5 structure the interior chamber of the bellows 17 is -communicated with the magazine chamber 11 by way of the hole 10 in the bat handle, the bore 39 of the latter, hole 40 in the abutment ring 33 and holes 41 in the slidable plate 36. After each of the balls 12 is transferred to the loaded position within the annulus 13 it is then pitched or popped out in the manner illustrated in FIG. 3, to permit the operator to attempt to bat it as depicted in FIG. 4.

The manually operable means to create the puffs of air for popping the balls successively out of the gripping annulus 13 may be in the form of a variety of structures which perform in equivalent manner the function of the bellows 17. For example, as is illustrated in FIG. 6, the means for supplying air at elevated pressure to the magazine chamber 11 may be in the form of piston structure 42. The piston structure 42 may include a piston head 43 reciprocatively mounted within the cylinder 44 provided by a section of the bore of the bat shell 202. A transverse plate 136 is tixedly mounted within the shell 202 to separate the back end of magazine chamber 11 from the cylinder 44, and holes 41 therein permit air passage into the former from the latter. The fixed abutment plate 136 also serves as a limit stop for the stroke of the piston head 43. The piston head 43 is carried by ya piston rod 45 which slidably extends through a hole 46 in a transverse plate 47 fixed in the bore of the shell tube 202 at the back end of the cylinder 44, and the diameter of this hole may be appreciably larger than the piston rod 45 to provide an air inlet opening for the cylinder if the piston head is loosely mounted in the cylinder. Below or inward of the fixed plate 46 the piston rod carries a trigger 48 having a free end extending laterally out through a slot 49 in the side of the bat shell 202. A helical compression spring 50 surrounds the piston rod 45 and is confined between the fixed transverse 7 plate 47 and the piston head 43 to tend to maintain the latter in or drive it to its outward or upward position illustrated in full lines in FIG. 6.

In operation of the combined ball pitching and batting device 201 of FIG. 6 the operator will grasp the bat handle section 24 with his left hand, and engage the trigger 48 with the index nger of his right hand and then move the latter back to grasp the bat handle section 25. This action will retract the piston head 43 in the cylin der 44, such as to the dotted position 143, with the trigger being held in the dotted position 148 by the index nger of the operators right hand. The operator will then load the device by swinging the bat to cause centrifugal force to move the outermost ball 112 out of the magazine chamber 11 into the gripping annulus 13, such as to the dot-dash position indicated at 1121. With the bat held upright the operator will then release the trigger 48 from its dotted position at 148 to permit the compression spring 50 to expand and snap the piston head 43 upward to expel a puff of air from the cylinder 44 through the communicating holes 41 intoy the magazine chamber 11, so as to cause the annulus-held ball 112 to be popped out of the annulus. The operator may then swing at this ball as it descends in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4.

It is not necessary that -a pumng bellows be mounted about the handle of the bat, as is proposed in FIGS. 1 to 5 incl. In FIG. 7 it is indicated that a bellows 117 may be mounted in substantially coaxial alignment to the end of the bat handle 124 with a hole 51 in its head plate 220 communicating with a hole 110 in the end of the bat handle, so `as to supply a puff of air therethrough to the filler tube 308 within the bat shell 302. The head plate 220 of the bellows 117 may be provided with an air inlet hole 130 which may be equipped on its inner end with a flap valve similar to that illustrated at 32 in FIG. 5. A cage structure 52 is arranged about or encloses the bellows 11'7 with end plate 119 of the latter resting against cage bottom 53. y The cage carries a sleeve 224 which is telescoped over for free sliding action about the handle section 124. The cage sleeve 224 provides a grasping element to be gripped by the operators left hand.

In operation of the FIG. 7 embodiment, after the outermost ball 112 has been transferred to the loaded position within the gripping annulus 13, such as by centrifugal force created in the swing of the bat 301, this ball may be popped upwardly from the upright bat as it is held at 25 by the operators right hand when his left hand which grasps the cage sleeve 224 is lifted to move the latter to the dotted line position indicated at 224-1. The attendant collapse of the bellows 117 causes a puff of air to be delivered to the magazine chamber for popping the loaded ball 112 out of the gripping 'annulus 13. The operator may then attempt to strike the pitched ball as it descends in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 illustrate variations of the ballgripping annulus structure. 402, which defines therein magazine chamber 11, may have its outer end equipped with the gripping annulus 13, as is proposed in FIG. 8. This gripping annulus 13 may be `supplemented by a second expansible elastic annulus 113 having a cylindrical skirt 114 lixedly mounted and sealed to an annular zone of the inner wall of the magazine chamber 11. The supplemental annulus 113 is provided with a exible, transverse and inwardly-extending flange 215 through which the outermost ball 112 may be partially driven in the reloading action. The annular flexible lip 15 of the outer gripping annulus 13 will engage an annular zone of the ball surface beyond the transverse equatorial plane of the ball. As this outer portion or segment of ythe ball 112 passes through the annular flexible lip 215 of the supplemental annulus 113 it causes this lip to flex outwardly so that its inner edge wipes along the ball surface to engage the latter in an annular zone rearward of the transverse equatorial plane, as shown in FIG. 8. Thus the outermost ball is caught Barrel section 3 of a bat shell 8 and held more securely in its loaded position by the FIG. 8 structure.

There may be at times a tendency for an operator to swing a bat of the FIGS. 1 to 4 incl. embodiment more vigorously than is necessary to create centrifugal force sufficient to transfer the outermost ball from out of the magazine chamber into the gripping annulus in a loaded position to be securely gripped and held by the latter. As a result, the ball may pass onwardly completely out of the annulus so that the operator may not have an opportunity to effect controlled pitching thereof that will permit him to strike at the ball. The annulus assembly of FIG. 8 will eliminate such a tendency. Also, if an operator experiences repeated loss of balls by such excessively vigorous swinging he may attempt to correct this diculty by swinging the bat -too timidly to create the necessary centrifugal force for transferring the outermost ball into the gripping annulus, there to hold it until he can accomplish the popping or pitching action. The ball-gripping annulus assembly of FIG. 8 efficiently overcomes this problem since the innermost annulus 113 will prevent the ball from dropping back into the storage chamber 11 if it has not been sufficiently driven out into the outermost gripping annulus 13 for secure grip thereby.

It is proposed in FIG. 9 that the gripping annulus may be in the form of a tubular sleeve 213 of elastic material. The tubular sleeve 213 may have cylindrical end zones 54 and 154 snugly telescoped and affixed, such as by cement, within the end of the bore of the bat shell 402 which defines the discharge mouth 406 thereof. Intermediate the end zones 54 and 154 of the ball-gripping annulus 213 the medial zone 55 thereof is constricted appreciably to provide a passage of a diameter appreciably less than the diameter of the outermost ball 112, as is indicated in dotted lines at 155. When a reloading force is applied to the outermost ball 112 in the magazine or storage chamber 11 it` will be forced into the sleeve 213 to distort the medial section 55 thereof, as is indicated in full lines in FIG. 9. There will thus be gripping engagement of a relatively wide annular zone of the ball 112 by the distorted surface of the medial section 55 of the annulus sleeve 213, so as to hold it securely temporarily until a sufficient puffing force is applied thereto to cause delivery or discharge from the mouth 406. In order to prevent the flexibility of the medial section 55 of the annulus sleeve 213 `to be undesirably stitfened by a body of air trapped in the space 56 behind it, the mouth section 406 of the shell 402 may be provided with a suitable vent hole 57.

Another type of ball-gripping annulus is illustrated in FIG. l0. As is therein indicated the ball-gripping annulus 313 may be formed of sponge rubber having a tubular skirt 314 telescoped over the mouth section of the shell 402. This sponge rubber sleeve 313 has a constricted flexible nose section 315 into which the outermost ball 112 is driven by reloading force from the storage chamber 11. It will be seen from FIG. l() that an annular zone of the ball surface of appreciable width is gripped by the flexible constricted nose 315 of the annulus 313.

In operation of operative models of the device of the present invention it has been found that wh'en most of the balls 12 have been delivered from the storage or magazine chamber it becomes more difficult to provide by swing just the right amount of centrifugal force to drive the last ball or two out of the storage or magazine chamber into secure gripping position within the ballgripping annulus, due to the appreciable reduction in the mass or weight of the stack of balls within the chamber. While the annulus assembly of FIG. 8 or the moditied f-orm of lannuli of FIGS. 9 and l0 may solve this problem, it is possible to eliminate it by providing a follower slidably mounted within the storage chamber behind the stack of balls. It will be seen from FIG. l1

that such a follower 58 may be in the form of a cylindrical body mounted within the bore of chamber 11 for free sliding action. The follower 58 may have the approximate mass of one of the balls 12, and in order to provide a relatively wide cylindrical sidewall therefor to guide it coaxially through the chamber bore it may be made in the form of a hollow body. End walls 59 and 159 of the follower 58 may be provided with a plurality of holes 60 for free passage of air necessary to apply the puff of air to the annulus-gripped outermost ball 312. The bore of storage chamber 11 may be provided with a xed stop ring 61 to limit outward movement of the follower 58, such as in the dotted position 158 indicated in FIG. 11. The hole 62 in stop ring 61 is of a diameter greater than that of the balls 12 for free passage of the latter therethrough.

It has been found in practice that the problem of receiving and securely holding temporarily in the delivery mouth of the striking section of the bat the outermost ball in the stack stored in the bat magazine, regardless of a wide range of centrifugal force applied thereto by swing of the bat, can be easily solved in a effective manner by a certain variation of the ball-gripping annulus means. Such structure is illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14. In this form the ball-gripping annulus means is provided in the form of an inverted cup 413 of elastic material, such as rubber, having an annular sidewall 14 which may be telescoped down over the delivery mouth end of the ball striking section 3 of the bat, and suitably anchored thereto, such as by cementing. The cup annulus 413 has a transversely-extending, thin end section, as will be seen from FIG. 13, which comprises an annular zone 415 and a plurality or pair of diametrically-opposed, distortable, rounded aps 63. The diametrically-opposed flaps 63 may be defined by die cutting out of the transverse bottom f the cup 413 an opening 64 which may be shaped as shown in FIG. 13, although the effectiveness of this ball-gripping annulus structure is not limited to this particular shape of the opening and the diametrically-opposed gripping flaps defined thereby. As will be seen from FIG. 14, when the ball 112 is driven out of the bat magazine into the mouth thereof it will turn outwardly the aps 63 to grip large areas of the curved outer surface of the outward half of the ball. At the same time the annular zone 415 at the base of the flaps 63 will be distorted outwardly to grip an annular zone of the ball outer surface, so that together these portions of the annulus 413 will effectively grip and hold the ball while permitting ready popping delivery by a puff of air.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, which I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A projectile popping and reloading toy in the form of a combined ball pitching and batting device comprismg (1) an elongated bat simulating a conventional baseball bat and having an outer hollow ball-striking barrel section defining a tubular magazine chamber therein in which is housed at least one ball of certain diameter appreciably less than the internal diameter of said chamber with the outer front end of the latter having an open mouth of greater diameter than the ball through which the latter may be discharged,

(2) said bat having a smaller hand-gripping handle section at its other end provided with a passage leading to and communicating with the inner back end of the chamber to conduct successive puffs of air to the latter with said handle section having a portion to be gripped by one hand of a person for holding and supporting said bat indefinitely,

(3) an expansible elastic air-sealing annulus carried by the outer end of said barrel section in the vicinity of the discharge mouth and of an internal diameter less than the ball diameter to catch and hold said ball temporarily therein in air-sealing relation when driven forward into said annulus by loading force,

(4) means to apply loading force to said ball in the chamber to drive it into said annulus,

(5) means mounted on said handle section defining an aspirating air chamber having movable wall means to reduce the capacity thereof for expelling a puff of air therefrom through said passage into said magazine chamber to pop the annulus-held ball out of the discharge mouth, and

(6) an air chamber operator slidably mounted upon a second portion of said handle section for longitudinal reciprocation therealong to move said wall means in chamber capacity-reducing direction for expelling the puff of air from said aspirating chamber, said operator being engageable by the other hand of the person as this hand is curled about the second portion of said handle section in grasping position whereby longitudinal movement of this hand along said handle section relative to the persons other hand will move said operator longitudinally along the second portion of the latter to expel the puff of air from said aspirating chamber.

2. The combined ball pitching and batting device as defined in claim 1 in which said operator comprises a tubular member slidably encircling said handle section second portion and of a size whereby the persons second hand may be firmly grasped thereabout indefinitely both to effect longitudinal slide of said tubular member without hand release thereof and to aid the other hand in the support and swing of said bat for batting the ball popped out of the discharge mouth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,505,428 4/1950 Pope 124-11 2,601,555 6/1952 Pope 124-13 2,725,868 12/1955 Foster 124-13 2,762,356 9/1956 Foster 124-13 2,853,991 9/1958 McLain 124-11 2,975,779 3/1961 Pope 124-11 3,080,859 3/1963 Benkoe 124-11 3,087,481 4/1963 Foster 124-11 3,120,387 2/1964 Weinstein 273-95 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner. 

1. A PROJECTILE POPPING AND RELOADING TOY IN THE FORM OF A COMBINED BALL PITCHING AND BATTING DEVICE COMPRISING 71) AN ELONGATED BAT SIMULATING A CONVENTIONAL BASEBALL BAT AND HAVING AN OUTER HOLLOW BALL-STRIKING BARREL SECTION DEFINING A TUBULAR MAGAZINE CHAMBER THEREIN IN WHICH A HOUSED AT LEAST ONE BALL OF CERTAIN DIAMETER APPRECIABLY LESS THAN THE INTERNAL DIAMETER OF SAID CHAMBER WITH THE OUTER FRONT END OF THE LATTER HAVING AN OPEN MOUTH OF GREATER DIAMETER THAN THE BALL THROUGH WHICH THE LATTER MAY BE DISCHARGED, (2) SAID BAT HAVING A SMALLER HAND-GRIPPING HANDLE SECTION AT ITS OTHER END PROVIDED WITH A PASSAGE LEADING TO AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE INNER BACK END OF THE CHAMBER TO CONDUCT SUCCESSIVE PUFFS OF AIR TO THE LATTER WITH SAID HANDLE SECTION HAVING A PORTION TO BE GRIPPED BY ONE HAND OF A PERSON FOR HOLDING AND SUPPORTING SAID BAT INDEFINITELY, (3) AN EXPANSIBLE ELASTIC AIR-SEALING ANNULUS CARRIED BY THE OUTER END OF SAID BARREL SECTION IN THE VICINITY OF THE DISCHARGE MOUTH AND OF AN INTERNAL DIAMETER LESS THAN THE BALL DIAMETER TO CATCH AND HOLD SAID BALL TEMPORARILY THEREIN IN AIR-SEALING RELATION WHEN DRIVEN FORWARD INTO SAID ANNULUS BY LOADING FORCE, (4) MEANS TO APPLY LOADING FORCE TO SAID BALL IN THE CHAMBER TO DRIVE IT INTO SAID ANNULUS, (5) MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID HANDLE SECTION DEFINING AN ASPIRATING AIR CHAMBER HAVING MOVABLE WALL MEANS TO REDUCE THE CAPACITY THEREOF FOR EXPELLING A PUFF OF AIR THEREFROM THROUGH SAID PASSAGE INTO SAID MAGAZINE CHAMBER TO POP THE ANNULUS-HELD BALL OUT OF THE DISCHARGE MOUTH, AND (6) AN AIR CHAMBER OPERATOR SLIDABY MOUNTED UPON A SECOND PORTION OF SAID HANDLE SECTION FOR LONGITUDINAL RECIPROCATION THEREALONG TO MOVE SAID WALL MEANS IN CHAMBER CAPACITY-REDUCING DIRECTION FOR EXPELLING THE PUFF OF AIR FROM SAID ASPIRATING CHAMBER, SAID OPERATOR BEING ENGAGEABLE BY THE OTHER HAND OF THE PERSON AS THIS HAND IS CURLED ABOUT THE SECOND PORTION OF SAID HANDLE SECTION IN GRASPING POSITION WHEREBY LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF THIS HAND ALONG SAID HANDLE SECTION RELATIVE TO THE PERSON''S OTHER HAND WILL MOVE SAID OPERATOR LONGITUDINALLY ALONG THE SECOND PORTION OF THE LATTER TO EXPEL THE PUFF OF AIR FROM SAID ASPIRATING CHAMBER. 